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I never realized troubled teens were an industry and therapeutic boarding schools capitalize on it. I wonder what makes a troubled teen, enough so they would be sent away? Everything I've searched for, said that depression and mental health issues are the start of that label. However, I don't think having a mental illness or being on the spectrum or having a disability would make someone troubled. I would think it would be other behaviours? But what would those behaviours be?
I wouldn't think being mentally ill means one is troubled. I would think it would have to be how they deal. I was mentally ill as a teen, but I never got in trouble and I kept good grades. I was a loner, like now. I would hope I wasn't a troubled teen.
I never realized troubled teens were an industry and therapeutic boarding schools capitalize on it. I wonder what makes a troubled teen, enough so they would be sent away? Everything I've searched for, said that depression and mental health issues are the start of that label. However, I don't think having a mental illness or being on the spectrum or having a disability would make someone troubled. I would think it would be other behaviours? But what would those behaviours be?
I wouldn't think being mentally ill means one is troubled. I would think it would have to be how they deal. I was mentally ill as a teen, but I never got in trouble and I kept good grades. I was a loner, like now. I would hope I wasn't a troubled teen.
I would say you probably were a troubled teen, but not enough so, that you needed outside intervention.
I would THINK that going to a therapeutic boarding school would be for something that brings the teen on the border of criminality, or something that has the potential to ruin their lives for years to come, and the parents just don't know how to help anymore.
I would say you probably were a troubled teen, but not enough so, that you needed outside intervention.
I would THINK that going to a therapeutic boarding school would be for something that brings the teen on the border of criminality, or something that has the potential to ruin their lives for years to come, and the parents just don't know how to help anymore.
Makes sense. My mom is an alcoholic and both of her parents were alcoholics, and grandad's dad was an alcoholic. I didn't touch alcohol as a teen and was often militantly against it. I once dressed up as a prohibitionist and handed out flyers at school about the evils of drinking.
I tried it in my early 20s and my fears about it came true, so I don't drink anymore. I noticed it depressed me more and wonder how it cheers (or cheered... my alcoholic grandparents died young) up mom. She didn't pay a lot of attention to me growing up, but when I was a teen she used to call me extremely ugly. I was bullied a lot in school and she took part in the bullying at home.
I wonder if the way I was acting was to get attention because I did need help. I was bullied for 7 years at school and didn't really have friends. At the time, it was a small enough town and some of my classmates' parents knew mom when they were in school. She had a bad reputation and her bad reputation sort of became my "guilt by association." It ruined all friendships and I couldn't make a lot of friends.
I was essentially raised by my dad and his adoptive mother, my Nan. They love (loved) me dearly and they often helped with my depression. I wonder if having those two around, two I could trust and count on, is what helped. Often I still act out if I'm not being empathized with or listened to.
Mom was a troubled teen that should have had intervention, but didn't. I don't know if boarding schools were a thing back in the 70s and 80s, but they didn't have a lot of money anyway. I think you're right, however, it's probably a last resort and parents don't know what to do.
I wonder if those who are acting out with drugs and alcohol because they are troubled would benefit from therapy or a support group. I know they exist, but I wonder why they don't work for some. I would like to become a therapist eventually and I'm researching. Maybe some people are just the way they are.
Last edited by jessxwrites89; 01-04-2021 at 08:21 AM..
Well...I think money is an important issue. Some parents will move heaven and earth to try and get help for their teens, like 2nd mortgage the house, get a second job to pay for expensive help, etc.
And some parents simply don't have heaven and earth to move, no matter HOW much they want to provide the help, and then others, like in your mom's situation...don't have psychological capacity to help.
You were blessed to have your dad and Nan. And you were smart to avoid alcohol and other drugs while you were so young. IMO, it's drugs and alcohol, at a young age, that drives people off the rails...sometimes for life.
Well...I think money is an important issue. Some parents will move heaven and earth to try and get help for their teens, like 2nd mortgage the house, get a second job to pay for expensive help, etc.
And some parents simply don't have heaven and earth to move, no matter HOW much they want to provide the help, and then others, like in your mom's situation...don't have psychological capacity to help.
You were blessed to have your dad and Nan. And you were smart to avoid alcohol and other drugs while you were so young. IMO, it's drugs and alcohol, at a young age, that drives people off the rails...sometimes for life.
That makes sense. I believe my cousin was a troubled teen with drugs and alcohol. My aunt and uncle have the resources and they tried, but my cousin is who he is. Hopefully, he doesn't move onto harder drugs (he smokes pot).
I met a few young people who are meth and heroin and cocaine addicts. It's sad to see and while they have a criminal record a mile long, and some just aren't interested in changing. I follow Brandon Novak and he didn't have his a-ha moment until he was 36/37. He's sober now and won't put himself in situations otherwise. He spends his time helping others.
I believe a lot of it is hereditary; I never wanted to become like my mom and her parents, so I made conscious choices to avoid that. I also avoided peer pressure, I never followed the crowd. However, mom said her mother was depressed and I most likely inherited the depression from her. She was adopted, so I'm going by family stories and doing DNA to figure things out.
I never knew troubled teens were an industry and I never knew about therapeutic boarding schools until I met someone who was abused at one. I did the research and the abuse is rampant. I feel bad for the teens that are placed in that situation.
Well, there's a lot of stuff out there for troubled teens, depending (I guess) on how you want to define "troubled". There are counselors, therapists, boarding schools, military schools, After school programs, Pyschiatrists, pyschologists, correctional facilities, and on and on.
Well, there's a lot of stuff out there for troubled teens, depending (I guess) on how you want to define "troubled". There are counselors, therapists, boarding schools, military schools, After school programs, Pyschiatrists, pyschologists, correctional facilities, and on and on.
I met someone who went to a boarding school and he was abused. I Googled where he went and apparently, a lot of abuse happens at these therapeutic boarding schools. It seems like a lot of these places hire people with only a BA and can't really handle things. It just sounds like a bad model.
Where I work full-time, we are located next to a school for children with developmental delays and other learning differences. I know they could be considered "troubled" too. I've met the teachers and they are awesome with the students. I work part-time at a library and have seen other school programs in action and same thing. I think teachers have to be certified, so that most likely helps too.
I liked seeing counselors/therapists when I was in high school. Psychologists were helpful in college, but I thrived mostly in after school programs and programs in college. I think feeling like I'm part of something felt good, and I imagine troubled souls would feel good being part of something positive.
Like I said, I would eventually like to go back to school to become a therapist and I would like to specialize in trauma. I've been reading different things to see what path I want to down.
You don't think mental illness would make someone troubled?
Being troubled is a cornerstone of mental illness - without being troubled, there would be no mental illness.
Seems kind of basic.
Well, I don't think it would be the bad type of troubled that would require a boarding school. Then again, it depends on what it is. If they are bipolar with psychotic features or schizophrenic, I could see it. But, I wouldn't think depression or bipolar II would be severe enough to warrant boarding school and abuse.
Then again, it might all depend on the person's support system and how they choose to handle their illnesses.
I think boarding schools and military schools are basically for those kids who have become unmanageable somehow. Like...they're violent or abusive to themselves, or someone else in the home. (That's MY supposition...or 'feeling' on the matter...not necessarily based on fact or experience.)
Although...here's some personal experience that seems relative...my oldest grandson, who was 13 at the time, did something really bad. He was kicked out of school. He came to live with us for a little while. (He was no problem to us at all.) When he was allowed to go back home, he still couldn't go back to school, got depressed, and over dosed on pills and alcohol. At that point, he went to stay at a correctional facility for about 3 months.
Now, currently, he's back in school and doing well in school, living at home, and seems to have his meds adjusted well, and seems happy and on track again, despite the odds. Fingers crossed, he'll continue on a good path.
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